


House Guardian of the Maple World

by marcien



Series: MapleTales - MapleStory folklore AU [1]
Category: MapleStory
Genre: Alternate Universe - Folklore, Alternate Universe - Mythology, Folklore, Gen, Illustrations, art+fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-01
Updated: 2016-11-01
Packaged: 2018-08-28 08:48:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8439139
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marcien/pseuds/marcien
Summary: MapleStory folklore AU.Luminous is a domovoi who has never left his house before. Until it burnt down, anyway.





	

**Author's Note:**

> A collaborative work by marcien (writer) and gamingreader (artist). You can check out her work on [her tumblr](http://artofgamingreader.tumblr.com/).
> 
> Along with the fic, there are some youtube music on the right. While not necessary, playing the music as BGM will enhance your reading experience. All tracks used are from the MapleStory game.

In a world of humans and faeries, where both sides live their lives both separate yet interdependent on the other, a faint wind of trouble blows. A secluded hut in the woods is on fire. Wooden beams cracked and fell, the roof caved in and collapsed, until all is left is a smokey pile of rubble.

Its resident _Domovoi_ , the household guardian who protects and watches over the house, rummages through the remains of his house frantically. _How could this have happened? His house burnt down on his watch?_ Luminous is a failure of a domovoi, he has failed his house and his owner.

_Ah! His owner!_ His search turned up no charred corpse. Luminous sighed in relief. His owner might have escaped the fire or had simply gone out for an afternoon stroll. This is good news. He was sorry that the hut had burnt down, and his owner would definitely be horrified to return to… this pile, but at least, there were no other casualties. Luminous started thinking of how to react to his owner’s return. Mayhap they could rebuild the hut? Or look for another house to stay in?

The wait went on for hours and nights. Luminous suspected that the sun has bypassed him overhead at least three times. He was hungry and it does not seem like his owner is coming back.  
   Then, it is his duty to find his owner.

 

* * *

 The world outside of his house was all very new to Luminous. Trees grew thick and tall in the woods, quite unlike the clearing where his hut has. He was greeted by other folk who lived in the forest, to which he responded in kind. When the forest ended, he found himself in a large clearing littered with many houses. With the trees here being far sparser than in the woods, Luminous had to shield his eyes from the glare of the sunlight. He ran towards the nearest house, hoping to seek shelter from the unfamiliar light. 

He bumped into a person. ‘Oh, I am sorry,’ he apologised.  
   The man smiled uneasily and avoided him. _Oh._ That man must have been a human. Humans did come into his hut from time to time, weary travellers seeking a place to lay their head in the woods at night. The humans could never see him, so Luminous was careful to watch from a ceiling beam so as to not scare them unnecessarily by bumping into an invisible creature. 

A growl from his stomach reminded Luminous of his hunger. Pulling his hood over his eyes, he followed the smell of food and found baked dough left at a window. _Good find!_ His owner would always leave fruits or fish around the house for him to eat. He tapped at the walls, just to check if the house belonged to any other domovoi, before taking the tray from the windowsill to eat. _This is good stuff! There is something fragrant and something sweet, nothing he had ever tasted before._

‘Hey! Where did the pie go?’ a woman stuck her head out of the window. Luminous dropped the tray.  
   ‘Thief! Thief!’  
   Luminous looked around to see who she was referring to. Hands grabbed him and were holding him down.  
   ‘Huh? Me?’ Two other humans had came to the call of the woman and had accosted him.  
   ‘Yes! Of course it is you! That pie was for Tatamo’s birthday!’ the woman was more exasperated than mad at him.  
   ‘Who? Wait, you can see me-’ Somehow, his struggling did little against his captors.  
   ‘What? Of course, you gremlin!’  
   ‘I’m bringing you to the lord, he’ll do something about you! We aren’t having no thieves in Leafre!’  
   ‘C’mon, off we go to Lord Freud!’  
   ‘Grem-whu-- Hold on! I didn’t know- uugh!’ Coming to think of it, Luminous has been weak since his house burnt down. Was this because he is a domovoi? Without a house to call home, he would be useless. Not only was he not invisible to humans, he is also apparently a gremlin to them? 

The domovoi was unceremoniously dragged away and dumped in front of a large house. The three humans rang a bell, and man stepped out. Dressed in red and gold, Lord Freud was both grand and amicable. He listened attentively to the woman’s complaints, while nodding and glancing over at Luminous.  
   Finally, Lord Freud stood in front of Luminous and queried, ‘So you stole Mrs Nam Nam’s pie and ate it?’  
   ‘I did not! No, umm, I mean I did, I thought that it was for me… since it was… just left there? But it was not for me, so it would appear that…’ Luminous bit his lip and looked away in embarrassment, ‘I have indeed stolen the pie.’  
   Freud considered him for a moment and laughed, ‘Hahahah…! Don’t you worry, Mrs Nam Nam, he’s okay! It was a mistake, he’s one of the fair folk, so he didn’t know any better of human rules.’

‘What about my pie then?’ the woman sighed.  
   ‘Hmm, then I’ll help you with baking?’ Lord Freud offered.  
   ‘Ah, no- I can’t bother you with something like this! I can just bake another one, we can pick the berries again…’  
   ‘Berries huh? Hmmm…’

A horse prodded up to them, its hoofsteps gentle for its ginormous size. The lord began to pluck out berries stuffed between the scales on its mane. ‘How about these? Afrien had just picked them!’  
   The woman cupped her hands to receive bright pink berries. ‘Oh! These are perfect! Thank you so much, Lord Freud, and you too, Mister Afrien!’ She beamed gratefully as she bowed politely. ‘I’ll bake another for you too!’

Lord Freud smiled as the humans dispersed, Mrs Nam Nam skipping back to her home. ‘Aw… She didn’t have to…’ he turned to Luminous, ‘So! Pray tell, what brings a faerie into a human town?’  
   ‘... I thought I might find my owner. I have been waiting in vain, since… my house burnt down,’ Luminous answered, a hint of glumness in his voice.  
   ‘Your _house_? Ah! I see, you are a Domovoi. When did it burn down?’  
   ‘A few nights ago.’  
   ‘Full moon night, wasn’t it?’ There was a way that Freud looked straight into his eyes that Luminous felt he already knew.  
   ‘Now that you mention it, yes,’ he replied obediently nonetheless. 

Freud appeared to be considering for the while. The horse nibbled him lightly on his ears. Freud chuckled. _What a weird horse, it has scales,_ Luminous thought. Was this why Freud seems used to meetings with the fair folk? The human travellers who stop by his hut were hardly aware of his presence.

 ‘Now, about that theft charge…’ Lord Freud spoke.  
   Luminous gulped. _He was going to bring it up after all!_  
   ‘If you would just do me a little bit of community service, I think we can call it settled! How about it?’  
   ‘Community service…?’ What is that?  
   ‘It’s… nothing too difficult…!’ Freud assures him, ‘I just need… a letter delivered to a friend of mine. She isn’t too hard to find at all, though she might be quite some distance away…’  
   Luminous was about to protest about how little he knows of the world outside, and why would Lord Freud even entrust him with something that seems that personal.  
   ‘And on the way, I am sure you will also find out more information about your house and owner!’  
   ‘...! I will…?’  
   ‘Yes, this is a quest! Not only will you be helping me out, you will get some answers and experience out of this!’

Luminous took the letter. Lord Freud can be a very convincing man.

 

* * *

It was a letter, but packed along with it was something like a smooth stone. Luminous lifted up the envelope to try to see through it at its contents in curiousity, but the sun was setting and the light was not enough. This might be a good time for a night rest.

By morning, Luminous came to the conclusion that the time of the day was not what was making the forest dark. The trees grew low and thick, branches and leaves blocking out any light from celestial bodies. It was different from the forest he was familiar with. Sometimes, it looked like the trees or branches move, and other times he was certain he had already walked by the same path before. He even came across a mud patch which he had definitely passed before, evident from the circle he drew on the ground with his wooden staff.  
   Fae, he assumed. Trying to keep him out of their forest. Unfortunately, this was the route pointed out to him by Lord Freud, so Luminous had little choice but to follow.  
   Speaking of Freud, sometimes, Luminous thought he saw Freud. Hiding amongst shrubs, or in treetops or _in_ a tree trunk. It almost looks like Freud is wearing some rather ineffective disguise costume while spying on him. But the next moment, nothing would be there. This… must be a strange effect of being in this forest. His mind is playing tricks on him. Luminous is tired. Another day had passed, and he was still not sure if he had made any progress in this maze of a forest. He supposed that nightfall is as good a time as any to stop for a break.  
   Luminous found a clearing beneath a large tree that looks like it will be comfortable. He sat down.

 _Raaggff!!_ Came the sudden growl.  
   ‘Wha…?’

What he thought was a comfortable mound of earth was really a large black dog. It nipped at his behind, tearing a scrap of his tattered vest away.  
   ‘Hey!’ Luminous was about to lift his staff to cast a protective seal when he realised, _he still has no power away from his house_.  
   So he ran. With the wild dog hot on his heels.

‘Stop chasing me!’ He shouted at it, ‘I am not prey!’ Remembering how some of the human townfolk had called him a gremlin and how they seem to be looking downwards at him… _Oh no._ He can’t be actually looking like a snack to the dog, can he?  
   Untangling his foot from a twisted vine, Luminous’ wooden staff slipped from his hand. With the dog not far behind, he decides to strategically abandon the wooden stick.  
   Going around another tree and climbing over a tall root, he finds the dog right in front of him.

‘Ruff!’ it barked at Luminous, wagging its tail. It then dropped the stick at his feet.  
   What. _Is this the mythically inane game of “Fetch” played by a bored human and a simple-minded dog?_ Luminous has heard of the game, but never expected to be participant to such a pointless activity. He decided to ignore the dog and walk ahead.  
   ‘Roouw?’ the dog does not seem to want to let him pass.  
   ‘Argh! All right, I’ll throw the stick!’ Luminous gave in. He threw his wooden staff far behind him. The black dog bounded past him after it.  
   It soon came back to him, so Luminous threw the stick again.

That solved his problem. Looks like all Luminous has to do was to keep throwing the stick to keep the dog from him. Except…  
    _… where exactly was he now?_

 

Luminous looked around and found no trace of any of his markings, or of the path that Freud has instructed him to follow. He is now most definitely in the unfavourable situation of being lost in a forest at night.  
   Luminous sighed. No use being upset about this. The dog found him again, wooden stick in its jaws.  
   ‘YOU!! This. Is. All your fault!’ Luminous barked at it. He picked up the stick and gathered as much of his strength, and threw the stick far enough that he hoped it reached Lord Freud’s town. The dog made a bark that almost sounded like human laughter and went after it.  
    _ANNOYING!  
   _ _…  
   _ _…  
   _ _… right. No use being upset._ If he could wait until sunrise, then Luminous would surely be able to find his way back to the path and towards Ereve, where he has a delivery to make. He could rest until then.

Perhaps it was due to the adrenaline rush from being chased by a simple-minded dog, but Luminous could not find the peace to rest. Sometimes he thinks he saw Freud again. Just Freud’s head, looking worse for the wear, floating in the air. It must be his subconscious working in line with his thoughts in cursing Lord Freud for his current situation.  
   Sometimes he thinks he sees the head but then he does not, and hears Freud’s voice calmly saying something about “Don’t worry, I believe the forest will be safe for you even now.”  
   … Luminous blames his exhausted mind for feeding him that vision.

It was not obvious at first, the soft flickering glow of light. Unlike his imaginary Freud, the faint light remained there even after blinking. Foxfire? He went towards the light to examine it. The light glowed brighter, then diminished into the dark. It showed up again some distance away. Luminous made his way after that light. Once again, it diminished when he approached and showed up farther ahead, more lights preceding it.  
   Are the balls of light leading him somewhere? He should be more cautious, but they were balls of light! Luminous was always fascinated by light. Hoping the Will-o’-Wisps would lead him somewhere helpful, he followed them through a swampy area and found himself on the grounds of a derelict castle.

For some reason inexplicable, Luminous feels like he knows this castle. He steps up to the doors, and pushes them open inwards.  
   Luminous looks around as the moonlight spills in from the doorway, revealing the furnishings of the castle’s interior. The hanging crystals, tall pillars, the gold-trimmed red carpet, _he knows this place…  
   _ His thoughts were interrupted by the shadows that blocked out the moonlight. The door…! 

Hulking creatures had begun pouring in from the door. They were like deformed humanoids, skin taut over their skeletal frames, completely black save for the glow in their sharp eyes and wide mouths. Some crawled, some stumbled, some leapt, some flew – there must be more than a dozen of them – all heading for Luminous, their jaws hanging and fangs bared, ready to devour.  
   Undead? Strigoi! They seek out living, craving lifeforce to devour in order to supplement their existence… Basically, terrible fiends to be caught by. He needs to escape before he is overwhelmed. Answering to his thoughts, the will-o’-wisps appear again, this time blinking urgently.  
    _Why should he trust them again?_ In spite of himself, Luminous followed them up a spiral staircase, down a bleak hallway, and into a room. _Room?! Wouldn’t he be cornered in here?_  
   The balls of light circled a staff on the floor. A gem each adorned each end, embedded in a silver holder carved in a gothic pattern.  
   ‘You want me to use this?’ Luminous asked, not expecting a response from the will-o’-wisps.

The light coalesced before him, revealing a male figure with long black hair.  
   ‘Yes, please try using it,’ came the placid reply.

In more pleasant circumstances, Luminous would question the man on his being and appearance. Instead he focused on picking the twinstaff up in his hands. He felt power in his grasp, like he could cast a spell this instant.  
   A swish which resounded like bells, followed by screech drew his attention to the will-o’-wisp man at the door, between him and the incoming strigois. The first one had been cut by what looks like what looks like shadow blade in the hand of the man of dim light. The man cut at it a few more times, until it fell down. It dissipated into black smog.  
   With some effort, the second one proceeded to be cut down in similar fashion. He blocked a claw-arm from the third while avoiding a charge from the fourth, which jumped over him into the floor faced down.  
   It got up and charged for Luminous.

‘Attack it with light!’ shouted the man.  
   Luminous held the twinstaff in front of him and shot an orb of light at the strigoi, falling it instantly. The domovoi blinked at his new weapon in amazement. How was he able to cast a spell like that?  
   More strigois gathered outside the door. Those who got past the will-o’-wisp were finished by Luminous. Despite his earlier doubts that he was lead into a room as a trap with no escape route, he found the narrow door a good bottleneck strategy. With the will-o’-wisp and himself at the door, no more than one or two strigois could go through at a time. It was simpler to deal with this way… although… _too slow_.  
   ‘Let me!’ he pushed past the other man out of the room into the hallway. He charged up more light at the ends of his twinstaff.  
   ‘Come and get this!’ The light merged to the center of his staff, then pierce through the nearest strigoi, bent to hit the next one, and the next one, until none but the domovoi was left standing.

‘Oh! That was good!’ piped the will-o’-wisp, peering out of the door at Luminous’ work.  
   ‘… uh, thanks to you too. How did you know that I could use this?’ being praised this honestly made Luminous brought a soft blush to his cheeks.  
   ‘It seems that… you were compatible? And I am glad I was right about that.’  
   ‘Oh, I see.’  
   ‘You can keep it. As thanks for helping to deal with this undead problem.’  
   Luminous smiled. ‘You say help, but you’re not too shabby yourself.’  
   ‘Maybe? But I am hardly any good at this time of the month. I couldn’t have taken care of all of them by myself.’  
   ‘Huh? This time…?’  
   ‘The moon is still too bright.’  
   ‘…? Ah.’  
   The two of them stood facing each other in an awkward silence. Luminous tried his best to recall how to start a conversation. In the end, the other party spoke first.  
   ‘Oh, it looks like I’ll be going now, we’ll meet again,’ the will-o’-wisp began fading.  
   ‘So soon? Wait! My name is Luminous! And yours…?’

The sun rose just as his new friend disappears.  
   Luminous lets out his breath in disappointment. Of course will-o’-wisps cannot appear in the day time. Since he said they will meet again, Luminous will just have to believe that they will.

With the room now lit by sunlight, he now sees that it is a bedroom. There were common furniture like a bed, tables and chairs, a bookshelf, a fireplace, lamps and clocks. While nothing stood out on their own, this arrangement… _That’s right!_ It is in the same layout as his hut in the woods. More ever, the atmosphere of this room…  
   Once upon a time, his owner lived here.  
   This is a fact Luminous is certain of.

 

* * *

When further search of the castle yielded him no clues of his owner, Luminous exited. To his ire, he was greeted by the same black dog which he thought he had sent to Leafre. Again.

Luminous decides that he will do his best to ignore the dog.  
   The dog objects to his intentions by tripping him with what used to be his wooden staff.  
   ‘WILL YOU STOP THAT ALREADY!’ He yanked the stick from the dog’s mouth and mustered up his power to throw as far as he can.

The twinstaff was flung towards the sky with a force that would make the domovoi the envy of every Olympic shot putter. It even made a twinkle in the sky with the light reflection of the rising morning sun.  
   … … … …   
   … … …  
   … So being near to where his owner used to live apparently counts as being in his house too.  
   … …  
   And that’s why he was so strong, with his household guardian status restored.  
   …

… Well.  
   He should probably be strong enough to kill this dog with just a wooden stick. Which from this moment on shall be known as the legendary Dog Beating Staff.

‘Ah, wait! Hold on! Don’t kill me yet! No wait, actually! How about don’t kill me at all!’  
   Without realising it, Luminous had been muttering his thoughts aloud under his breath. The black dog had shapeshifted into a human woman in defence. She was tall, dark, handsome and well-built, which did nothing to quell Luminous’ wrath at this point.  
   ‘You have bullied and harassed me for an entire night in the forest. That, I forgive. Then you made me throw away _the last memento_ I may have of my owner’s past! I am going to KILL YOU!!’  
   ‘... but _you’re the one_ who thr-’  
   He glared.  
   She threw up her hands in surrender. ‘I mean! Er… I can find it back for you!’  
   …  
   ‘… if you kill me, you might not be able to find it, right?!’

Luminous settles for punching her in the shoulder. If only because he had difficulty reaching her face. 

His temporary traveling companion is a Barghest, and her name is Aran. From their almost entirely one-sided conversation, Luminous learns that she is a shapeshifter, she loves playing and fighting, that this is a boring week of the month, her friend is a lantern, and that she has a weapon whom she loves and talks to a lot.  
    _Lantern_ friend. Talking to a _weapon_. Simple-minded does not begin to describe Aran. Fruits with a hard shell encasing a seed would make for more enjoyable company. Yes, nuts don’t even compare to Aran.  
   Once Luminous tolerated her presence enough to start listening to Aran, he found that she was not someone he could dislike. While she laughs about many (inappropriate) things, Aran is honest and down-to-earth, and fond of people, both fae and humans alike. When she talked about her polearm, Luminous thought he could respect her diligence in maintaining and training with it, despite her referring to it like a person. 

‘Of course Maha is a weapon!’ she quips. ‘He’s just very special. A Spirit Weapon! When a blacksmith puts a lot of dedication into crafting a weapon, it sometimes gains a soul.’ Aran turned to him and beamed with pride.  
    _Was she expecting him to say something?  
   _ Aran continued, ‘Well, you don’t get it now, but it’s okay. Just me alone hearing his voice is nice too.’  
   Luminous nodded. If her polearm is a spirit weapon, then he would have misunderstood her and the way Aran had talked about it would make sense. He wondered if it was a similar case for her lantern friend as well.

‘We’re near,’ said Aran, ‘I’m sure I heard it land somewhere here.’  
   The pair had arrived at a stream. At Aran’s announcement, Luminous began searching for the twinstaff. Aran shapeshifted into her dog form and helped him in sniffing around.  
   Where the stream flowed into a river, a lady in white, holding a small harp beside her, sat on rock in the water. _She might have seen it_ , he thought, so Luminous approached the riverbank.

‘Good day, Madam. Have you… by any chance, seen a twinstaff around? It had two ends…’  
   ‘… seen it…?’ she gasped. ‘I haven’t just _seen_ it, I _FELT_ IT…!’ she got up to her feet, which Luminous noted are that of a duck’s.  
   ‘HERE!!’ she shouted, pointing to the bump on her forehead which was slowly turning a shade of purple.  
   Aran shows up, in human form, with terrible timing as usual, ‘Ooh, you made a friend, Lumino-’  
   ‘You!’ screeched the duck-footed lady, ‘You don’t happen to know who threw a double-ended staff, do you?!’  
   Ouch, the lady is mad. _Right, how should he answer that question._ Before Luminous could think of a correct non-offensive reply, Aran jerked her index finger towards him, then shapeshifts and makes a run for it.

‘Aran!! You-’  
   ‘It was you!’  
   Luminous learnt that a small harp, in the hands of a vengeful banshee, can be utilised as a weapon in various ways.  
   ‘I heard that! Who’s a banshee? Do you really want me to bring about your death? I’m a Lamia!’  
    _Ow._

When his body decided to listen to his mind again, Luminous approached the pouting lady again. _Apologise. Say nice things. Then ask her where it is.  
   _ ‘Look, I am really sorry that the twinstaff hit you. Whatever my circumstances were… even if I was being relentlessly badgered by a mad dog, it was… wrong of me to throw a twinstaff that hit you. Please forgive me for scarring your face.’  
   ‘Scarring?!! There’s gonna be a scar?!’  
    _Say nice things, Luminous!_ ‘No, it is just a bruise, it will heal up in no time. I think…’  
   ‘It better!’  
   Luminous would had offered to heal her, but he found that his magic, without the twinstaff and nowhere near any house, was non-existent. After a while, it did not look like he needed to, for the Lamia’s bruise was already subsiding.

‘The swelling has gone down already,’ he said, hoping that she would be pleased about that.  
   ‘Yes, and no thanks to you.’  
   ‘Sorry.’  
   ‘… well, it’s fine now. How about you? I think I might have gone a little overboard…’ the lamia skipped across the water to stand before him.  
   ‘… it will be fine too. In time.’  
   ‘Oh dear. I’m sorry too, Lumi- What was your name?’  
   ‘Luminous.’  
   ‘I’m Mercedes, and you heard this already, I am a Lamia.’  
   ‘I’m a Domovoi.’  
   ‘Hm. Is that why you are so weak now? Did you throw the staff from your house?’  
   ‘… Yes, regretfully. By accident, out of frustration. I apologise.’  
   ‘You don’t have to apologise anymore.’  
   ‘I think… I was actually apologising to my owner there.’  
   ‘Your owner?’  
   ‘Yes, I believed that the twinstaff was something left behind by my owner. I want to return it personally, if I can.’  
   ‘I see, so the twinstaff is important to you. But… unfortunately, I don’t have it anymore.’  
   Luminous straightened.  
   ‘You see, earlier, I was… angry, I just took it and threw it into the lake. And then… _ugh!_ ’  
   ‘What?’  
   ‘A very annoying incubus,’ she huffs, ‘who was passing by, said “It is a pity to throw treasure away just like that”. So he fished out the twinstaff and went off on his way.’  
   ‘…! On his way where?’  
   ‘He lives with the humans, in the capital of Ereve. You might find him there. You can follow the flow of the river there,’ she pointed farther down, ‘out of the forest. You will definitely see the capital after that.’

Ereve? That is where the Queen Aria whom Lord Freud wants him to deliver the letter to is. Luminous congratulated himself for somehow finding his way to the capital of Ereve despite his misadventures. He thanked Mercedes and set off.  
   When night fell, Luminous welcomed the night’s rest without any barghest to bother him or strigoi hungering for his lifeforce.

It took him two days and nights to exit the forest from where he met Mercedes. The random appearances of his imaginary Freud’s decomposing head in the night do little to assure Luminous of his own sanity.

 

* * *

The kingdom of Ereve is on an island in the middle of a huge lake. A relatively small kingdom, in comparison to Lord Freud’s vast country of Leafre. Despite its size, the quaint lone island surrounded by pristine waters had an air of picturesque glory to it. As he crossed the floating bridge to the island, Luminous could not help his marvel at how it was every bit the fairytale kingdom that he read about in his books.  
   When he presented Freud’s envelope at the gate, the guardsman led him inside to the Queen.

At the inner gate, the Queen was there the receive him.  
   ‘Good afternoon! I hear that you have come quite the distance for me.’ Queen Aria was dressed modestly, save for a simple tiara adorning her head. She carried herself with an air of elegance and gentleness, a different kind of human leader from the friendly and assertive Freud.  
   Luminous nodded politely. ‘Thank you for your concern, Your Highness.’ He felt the need to be more proper with Aria than he was with Freud. ‘Here is the letter from Lord Freud.’  
   Queen Aria’s brows raised slightly for a split second, before she took the letter from him.  
   She read the letter while they walked, the attendant ushering him to their destination. Luminous noted that all of the humans were giving him strange looks and looking down when they saw him. He recalled that Queen Aria had spoken to him while looking into his eyes. He concludes that she must either have some faerie blood in her (like he heard Freud has) or be related to a fae somehow.

They reach a private garden, where Queen Aria entered alone with him. There, she sat down on in a pavilion surrounded by neat shrubbery on a grass clearing and gestured for Luminous to do the same.  
   The domovoi complied. He sat silently, waiting for Aria to be done reading.  
   ‘I see Freud has done what I have asked of him. I should write him a reply. Please, Luminous, stay here with me for a night, while I do so.’  
   ‘All right, I will.’  
   ‘Thank you!’  
   Luminous pondered how he should ask about his twinstaff.  
   Aria must have noticed his brooding, which she interpreted as curiousity, ‘It’s about an enquiry into the magic research done by the White Wizard and his circle. He is a very famous magician, able to gain the allegiance of many fae. Although he is human, I think his power far exceeds anything we’ve seen from any fae. The faerie blood in him must be strong.’  
   ‘I see,’ Luminous took interest in her report. Even he had heard of the famed wizard, the greatest light magician in all lands.  
   ‘A few years back, the Aurora Circle disbanded, and none of its member were found. Castle Aurora was also similarly abandoned. Yet, there were still sightings by the common folk of the White Wizard. Some even call him the Dark Magister. I thought it suspicious, so I had Freud help me to investigate him. I am not that good in magic myself, you see.’  
   ‘Lord Freud is an enchanter, I heard that he was able to hold off an entire invading force with just him on horseback.’  
   Aria tittered, ‘Well, Afrien is also a force to be reckoned with himself. Anyway, according to Freud, the White Wizard was indeed conducting dangerous research. I believe he was searching for a way to tear down boundaries between human and fae. It resulted in the creation of many malicious fae, such as the strigoi in Castle Aurora.’  
   ‘Strigoi? I have met th-’

A figure approached them from behind Queen Aria. _That twinstaff looks very familiar.  
   _ ‘Please excuse me, Your Highness. Speaking of _malicious fae_ ,’ Luminous got up, ‘There is one right there. I’ll deal with him!’  
   Aria turned to see who it was. ‘Hold on, Luminous! I know him. That’s not anyone suspicious, he is my-’  
   ‘I can see it,’ Luminous held out his wooden staff and stood protectively between her and the newcomer.  
   ‘See…? What?’ Aria had gotten up herself.  
   The man’s stride did not skip a beat. ‘Damn, couldn’t you have let her finish that sentence? I’m curious to hear it.’  
   Luminous ignored him. ‘The soul link between the two of you. He’s an incubus! It’s slow, but he’s draining your life from you.’  
   The handsome, showy man guffawed, then sneered at him, ‘I see you have met Mercedes.’  
   ‘Incubus? What do you mean?’ queried Aria in confusion.  
   ‘I think he means that I _perform_ like one,’ he quirked up an eyebrow, ‘ _In bed_.’  
   ‘Of course you would, being one!’  
   Aria had blood rushing to her face which tinted her ears pink. ‘Phantom!’  
    _Huh. Why is Aria blushing and shouting now? … … Wait… Could it be that they are… Ah._ Luminous quickly pushed the thoughts to the back of his mind. _No brain, stop thinking that!_ ‘That was NOT what I meant! At all!!’

 The man Aria called Phantom twirled the twinstaff in his hands and walked up to him, his face uncomfortably close. ‘No? Looking closely at you… Ha, it’s no loss for me.’  
   ‘That is my twinstaff, please give it back to me,’ Luminous reached out for it.

Phantom pulled it away quickly. ‘I found it, it is my treasure now. Unless you wrote your name on it somewhere? Let’s see… Nope, no name. _Tsk_ , even children who tend to lose things know to write their names on their belongings.’  
   ‘The twinstaff is a magic artifact that can only be used a compatible… _competent_ owner. You have no use for it, you thief.’  
   ‘Thank you, I’m using it just fine,’ Phantom riposted. He threw it upwards where it spun thrice before falling back into his hands. ‘See that? I can catch it after _throwing_ it.’  
   Luminous struck Phantom’s wrist with his wooden staff, ‘So I’ll just have to make you drop it!’ The staff landed on the grass.  
   Phantom dropped and swung his leg around. He kicked the twinstaff upwards and caught it. ‘Then I’ll just pick it up again.’  
    _This person. Luminous really hates him._ He would choose twenty barghests and a hundred floating heads over him anytime.  
   Luminous charged with his staff, bashing Phantom whenever he can. The opponent was not making his attempts easy: Phantom is frustratingly agile and keen on avoiding his blows. During the times where Luminous managed to graze the twinstaff with his fingertips, he felt his strength increase, and came close landing a hit on the nimble fae.  
    _Close_ is the word. It is through these small power-ups that Phantom so easily evaded his lunges still, that Luminous realised that he was being toyed with here. Still, he was not going to give up trying. Phantom might get bored and give in.  
   …  
   That was wishful thinking. Luminous is the one more likely to get spent and give up. Suddenly moving about so much was giving him a headache and making him so out of breath.

He was bailed out with a shower of herbs overhead. Aria had found a basket of herbs and emptied them over the fighting faes.  
   ‘Stop it now, you two! Phantom! The Dianthus were just planted by Kirali last month, and you’re stomping all over them. Luminous! While there is a soul link between us, that is due to a contract between me and him, and you don’t have to concern yourself with it.’  
   ‘Oh dear, I’m sorry about that, Aria milady,’ Phantom picked one of the fallen white flowers and placed it in her hair. Although angry, Aria let slip a smile. ‘There, a woman is still most beautiful with a smile on her face.’  
   Luminous was surprised when the other fae handed him the twinstaff without fuss. He then bent down to repair the flowerbed, ‘I’ll clean up here. Can’t have Kirali wearing a frown on her lovely face, can I?’  
   Aria humphed and turned to leave, but Luminous sensed no contempt from her. She motioned for him to follow her, which he obeyed.

The next morning, Queen Aria sent him off with an envelope of her own. It was an elegant white envelope with a stamped floral border, in contrast to Freud’s plain brown envelope.  
   ‘That stone inside the brown envelope, was that a message too?’  
   ‘Hm? Oh, I suppose it kind of is. It isn’t for me though, it’s Phantom’s.’  
   Luminous looked about the courtyard and was relieved to see no sign of the thief.  
   ‘You won’t see him here. Or, at least, nowhere near me, in public.’  
   He gave her a questioning look.  
   ‘He is… a little infamous around here. It won’t do for a Queen to be seen with a fae like that, won’t it?’ Aria paused and looked away, ‘Not that it matters to me. But I guess, having anything to do with a queen would be an obstacle to his carefree life?’ She raised her head and faced Luminous with a smile.  
   ‘I… guess? I can’t say I care to know how someone _like him_ thinks.’  
   Aria laughed softly.  
   Luminous searched for a topic change. ‘What are you going to do about the White Wizard?’ he asked.  
   ‘I want to find out what his true goals are. And if they truly are evil… Ereve… No, all of the Maple World… – I will expose him for who he is – will stop him.  
   ‘I see. Stay safe, Your Highness,’ Luminous did not know why he said that. He just felt that Queen Aria was someone important to the world.  
   ‘Thank you, Luminous.’

 

* * *

As he made his way back through the forest, Luminous pondered over his discussion with Aria. An abandoned castle inhabited by strigoi? Was that where he found his owner’s twinstaff? White Wizard must have something to do with his owner!  
   He retraced his steps through the forest. By the second night, he came across a familiar silent swamp, resembling where he first saw the will-o’-wisps. Luminous looked about its vicinity, hoping to catch sight of any sign of phosphorescent light. While he discovered actual foxfire growing on deomposing wood, he found no fae.  
   ‘Looking for a guide?’  
   Luminous turned to see what looks like a rotted Freud’s head, eyes tearing with blood. _There’s no way his imagination can be that morbid._

‘Lord Freud, that is actually you and not my imagination, is it?’  
   ‘You thought all along that I was imaginary? That makes me sad.’  
   ‘You kept on disappearing!’  
   ‘Ahaha, you got me.’  
   ‘Are you really human? No one in Leafre seems to think otherwise.’  
   ‘That’s because I _am_ one. Well, that is a long story, I will tell you about it next time. You are looking for Ghostlight, aren’t you?’  
   ‘Ghostlight? _That’s_ his name?’  
   ‘Yes. And no.’  
   Luminous scowled.  
   ‘He has no name, but he also has many. You can call him whatever you like.’

Luminous wrinkled up his face. Why does nobody do things in a forthright manner? What kind of person accepts all the names people call him by?  
    _“There’s Lantern! We always train together, though not around this time of the month, it gets boring fast. I need to look for fun elsewhere.”_ He recalls Aran’s words. It clicked. So “Lantern” is the name that Aran gave the will-o’-wisp!

‘Well now, where were you hoping to go to?’ Freud spoke up.  
   ‘Castle Aurora. I think _you_ would know where it is.’  
   ‘So I do. I’ll lead the way then.’

After making their way through a mysterious path, Luminous was surprised to find themselves facing Castle Aurora. The distance was shorter than he remembered. The castle grounds was as he left it. Luminous entered cautiously, Freud’s head hovered along behind him.  
   ‘What were you hoping to find here?’ whispered the decaying head.  
   ‘Weren’t you the one who said, I would find my owner on this quest?’  
   Freud became reticent.  
   ‘And I found a room in here, where I think my owner may have lived in, once.’  
   ‘…’  
   ‘I think we might be able to find more clues if I look around again. With your help, Lord Freud.’  
   ‘… Luminous. … We won’t find anything else here.’  
   ‘What do you mean?’  
   ‘Let’s go back. I’ll explain then.’  
   Luminous stopped in his tracks and turned around. ‘You already know? Tell me!’  
   Freud’s head turned and glided back through the corridor.  
   ‘Wait up! I said: Tell me!’ Luminous chased after him.

‘You’re already leaving? I was about to welcome you home – I had been looking for you after all,’ the voice was calm and ethereal. Or rather, otherworldly. _Not Freud's._  
   At the foot of the stairs to the salon, stood a hooded man in a black cloak. Without even trying, Luminous could tell that he is a very powerful wizard.  
   ‘Who are you?’ Luminous asked.  
   ‘The Lord of this castle, of course.’  
   ‘White Wizard! … Or, I should say… Dark Magister!’  
   ‘That’s what they are calling me now, isn’t it. What about you?’

The man raised his hand to pull his hood down, revealing a face that Luminous has seen before on the surface of waters.

‘ … Me?’  
   The wizard looked into his eyes and smirked. ‘I can see why you will think that. I should have figured out that the child would bear my appearance. The Second Light Master tricked me well with the changeling.’  
   ‘Your appearance? H-how are we related?’  
   ‘The piece of “me” I threw away. I didn’t expect it to become a being on its own. I should have cleaned up the mess myself then.’ Orbs of darkness formed in the palms of the Dark Magister, which he hurled at Luminous.  
   Luminous raised his twinstaff to conjure a shell of light to block the attack. His shield extinguished the dark orbs on contact. _Strong! If he wasn’t at this “house”, he would have died._

The barrage of darkness attacks continued. He was able to block some, but others still hit it. The pain stung and burned. Still he soldiered on.

While there was a limit how much damage his shield could take, Luminous found that he could deflect them by countering with his own light magic. He felt stronger than he was when fighting against the strigoi. Did something change about the “house”?

~ ~ ~

 _House._ The memories came flooding back to Luminous. _That’s right. This place._ He was born here, in Castle Aurora. And then, he was taken from here and hidden in an isolated hut in the woods. He never understood why, but he realised it now.

 _Changeling._ If he was taken, then someone else must have been swapped in.

 _Child._ Her name was Lucia, and she was killed in his place. Deceived, the Dark Magister took the bait and believed that he had eliminated the leftover fragment.

 _Owner._ She hardly left the hut, yet whenever there were sojourners seeking shelter, she was never seen.

 _No corpse._ A spirit possessing a hut, a haunted house. His owner was dead all along.

 _Tricked._ The Dark Magister had learnt of the changeling swap and was going to end the real one.

 _Full moon._ The power of otherworldly beings waxes and wanes with the light of the moon.

 _Fire._ She burnt the hut down at the cost of her spirit.

 _Domovoi._ Because the only way to make him leave was to destroy his _house_.

~ ~ ~

Tears rolled down his cheeks as he defended himself from the Dark Magister’s attacks. He owes his life to Lucia. He will not die here! He cannot die here!  
   The two battled on in the salon. Luminous noticed that his enemy had begun to avoid his attacks rather than let the magic clash. He was shifting from being on the defensive to almost fighting evenly. He was nearing the hallway to the entrance! If he could occupy the Dark Magister for long enough, he could make his escape.  
   He teleported a short distance, and fired a beam of light towards the Dark Magister. This is it! He sped towards the exit.

A chill went up his spine. Luminous glanced over his shoulder to see two dark scythes rushing at him. The hallway was _too narrow_ and there was no place to else to run, they are quick and coming faster than he could cast any light magic, _why won’t his feet move_ and he’s about to be-

‘HEAD CANNONBALL!’

Freud’s head whizzes over him at the scythes, which crossed one after another in a slicing motion.  
   Blood splattered over Luminous as he drops to his knees. The bits that used to form the head fall in plops and squelches before evaporating. He hears the roaring neigh of a horse. The rider hauls him over the back of a horse.  
   He blacks out.

 

* * *

He wakes up with a jerk.  
   ‘FREUD!!! HIS HEAD! What happened?!! IT GOT VAPOURISED! Where’s Freud now?! Is he even alive??!’  
   ‘Oh, that. Don’t worry, it will grow back on in a few-’  
   ‘Freud? YOU’RE HERE!! You’re okaaaAAAAAAHHHH---!!!’ A headless man was seated by his bedside.

After drinking a cup of tea and eating a slice of pie offered to him by the headless man, Luminous was brought up to speed on Freud’s current state. Without a head, he was projecting his voice directly into Luminous’ mind.  
   Freud is a Dullahan, a headless horseman. He did not seem to be willing to elaborate further on that, so Luminous left at that.  
   His steed, Afrien, however, was a topic he spoke of with great enthusiasm. Afrien is a Chollima, legendary horses, faerie beasts that are most possibly, the fastest creatures alive. He eats both meat and plants, but his favourite of all seems to be dairy. His tail is made of natural organic ether. The scales of his mane can harden or soften at will. He can conjure out wings on his hooves to cross the skies in all weathers. When he is sleepy he makes this adorable face-  
   ‘Yes yes, I get it, you love Afrien. Can you tell me about the Dark Magister? Why does he look like me?’

Freud wagged a finger at him.  
   ‘Rather, it is more correct to say: you look like him.  
   ‘The White Wizard was powerful, blessed with light magic second to none, but he wanted to know more, to control more. Yet no matter how much magic an empty soul gains, it will not be satiated. So he began experimenting into another kind of magic: Dark magic.  
   ‘However, his innate light magic would not allow him to practise dark magic directly. So he drew out all of the light from himself and cast it away. What he did not foresee, was that light, the ancestral magic that flowed and gathered in his bloodline for generations, would manifest a will of its own. So he birthed a homunculus as an accidental result of his bid for more power.’

‘That was… Is… me.’  
   Freud nodded.  
   ‘How did I end up a domovoi then?’  
   ‘I don’t know. Faerie magic operates on a different logic system from human magic. What I do know is… As a product of the White Wizard, you were once an existence inside him. Being near him, would be like being near your “home”. Just as he seeks to find you and reabsorb the light back into himself, your body knows him as a house, and your powers will increase greatly.’  
   ‘I see.’ It is a lot to take in for Luminous, and he does not know what to do with this information.

‘I am,’ Freud declared, ‘looking for a party of heroes, who will defeat the Dark Magister. We will protect the world and make it into a safe place for everyone, human and fae alike.’ He leaned forward and held out his hand. ‘You would be a great asset in my mission. Please join us.’  
   Luminous swallowed. ‘I… Please let me think about this.’  
   ‘Okay, I will.’  
   Freud the headless lord got up and left the guest room they were in.

The domovoi laid back down and stared at the wooden ceiling, lighted by the dim oil lamp in the corner. It was clean and well-maintained, unlike the cobweb-covered peeling beams of the hut.  
   He realised that he would never see his owner, Lucia, again.  
   Tears welled up in his eyes once more.  
   His chest aches harder than when the dark orbs hit him.  
   …  
   He misses her so much.

_Sorry, it is all my fault._

 

* * *

Freud peeked in what feels like hours later, for the sun had rose again. It was still an unnerving sight to see a shoulder without a head sticking out of the doorway.  
   ‘Are you feeling better now?’ came Freud’s voice in his mind.  
   That was not a feeling he could get comfortable with either. Luminous makes a mental note to ensure that Freud never loses his head again.  
   ‘Yes, I am. Thank you for your hospitality.’  
   ‘Hm, you’re welcome.’

He did not need to see any facial expression to tell from his body language that Freud was anticipating his reply.  
   ‘I think…’  
   Freud inhaled. (Through that windpipe in between his shoulders that Luminous does not want to speculate about how it functions.)  
   ‘… that, since I don’t have any “house” to be my home anymore… – Can’t exactly call a castle of undead or a crazed sorcerer a “house” – and, this world _is_ home to many, including myself… So I will protect it.  
   ‘This world is my “house” now.’

The headless man made a variety of gestures which made Luminous grateful that he did not project his voice into his mind: it would undoubtedly be screams of joy that would give him a headache.

When Freud finally seated himself on the chair by his bedside, Luminous asked, ‘You said said a party. What are the others like?’  
   ‘Af-’  
   ‘Besides Afrien.’  
   ‘Stop that sound, Freud! I heard it all right the first time!’ came a voice from the opened door.

A lady in a white dress with duck feet enters, rubbing her temples in annoyance. _Ah! The_ ~~ _banshee_~~ _lamia.  
   _ ‘And you, Luminous! Were you thinking something rude?’  
   ‘I wasn’t,’ came his retort, a little too quickly.  
   ‘Right, here’s one of them! Mercedes is the one who helped patch you up, by the way,’ Freud raised a hand to introduce her.  
   ‘There are two more: one who's away because she’s always in search of adventures and another who only appears at night.’  
   Why is Luminous not surprised that he thinks he knows who Freud is referring to?

‘And one more,’ Freud muses, ‘whom I hope will be joining us. That makes seven of us.’  
   ‘I hope not,’ objects Mercedes, ‘That incubus does not care a lick about protecting the world.’  
   ‘You should have met him in Ereve too.’  
   ‘I had the misfortune to, yes,’ Luminous grunted.  
   ‘He’s not actually an incubus,’ Freud clarifies, ‘that’s just what Mercedes calls him. He’s a Leanan Sidhe.’  
   ‘Then, the soul link I saw…’  
   ‘A leanan sidhe forms a contract with their human lover. In return for being blessed with fulfillment and inspiration, the human gives up some years of their life to their fae lover. Although… I think that for Queen Aria, having Phantom beside her is happiness itself.’

Luminous made a face of disgust.  
   Mercedes giggled.  
   ‘I think I miss having my head now,’ Freud said flatly.

 

* * *

‘Hey, Aria?  
   ‘Shinsoo can’t heal you… because… You’re fine, right?  
   ‘Open your eyes, c’mon.  
   ‘… Give me a smile, please?’ 

The leanan sidhe crouches over the still body of his human lover. The rain poured down relentlessly upon the garden, petrichor masking the scent of iron, water rinsing red away into the soil.

He presses his head against her chest.  
   ‘You can’t be dead… not yet.  
   ‘We made a promise, didn’t we? I haven’t fulfilled my end of the deal yet. I haven’t really done anything for you. So I don’t need your lifespan now. You can keep it.  
   ‘Come back now, Aria-  
   ‘Wake up.  
   ‘Get up.  
   ‘Scold me.  
   ‘Roll your eyes at me.  
   ‘Throw pillows at me.  
   ‘Order me around.  
   ‘Smile… to me…’

His hair felt no breath from her nose, his ears pick up no sound from her heart, his skin sensed no heat from her body.  
   ‘… dammit!  
   ‘I’m not supposed to take your life that soon!’

  
~ ~ ~

_To the one who stole my treasure:  
_ _I will have my revenge.  
_ _— Master Thief Phantom_

~ ~ ~

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading this, my first ever longest completed fanfic. It was a great experience working together with gamingreader, I love how expressive all her character art are.  
> /huge fankid here
> 
> might be continued...?
> 
> EDIT: my art partner and i have started a blog for this AU, you can access it at [mapletales.tumblr.com](http://mapletales.tumblr.com).


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